Adolescence is that phase of human development during which boys and girls move from childhood to adulthood mentally, emotionally, physically and socially. Thus, adolescence is a period of development and has a great fascination for educationists because of it’s importance and impact on the total development of human personality. A large number of psychologists have made a deep study of the adolescence stage and have come out with a number of general characteristics of the stage of adolescence.

Different definitions of adolescence by different authors :

The word adolescence comes from a Greek word “ Adolescence” which means “ to grow to maturity”. A number of definitions have been given by psychologists from time to time. Some psychologists define it as the transitional period of life. The child experiences a number of changes in this transitional period. The period runs between childhood and adulthood and is some times called the stage if teenage.

According to AT Jersild, “Adolescence is that span of years during which boys and girls move from childhood to adulthood, mentally, emotionally socially and physically.”

According to some psychologists, it is the period when an individual is capable of begetting offspring. It means that when the power of reproducing its own kind is attained by the individual then we can say that he/ she has become an adolescent.

According to Dorothy Rogers,” A process rather than a period a process of achieving the attitude and beliefs needed for effective participation in the society. The age of great ideals and the beginning of theories as well as the time of simple adaptation to reality.